Will Mebane, M.Div.
https://www.capenews.net/falmouth/news/appointed-new-rector-at-st-barnab...
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church has appointed a new rector, the Reverend Willie H. (Will) Mebane Jr.
Born in Durham, North Carolina, and raised in the AME Zion Church & Baptist Church, Mr. Mebane joined the Episcopal church because of the anti-war activities of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and was subsequently baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.
“Will had wrestled since childhood with a call to ordained ministry and entered a discernment process just two years short of his 50th birthday,” said a statement from the church this week.
He earned his master of divinity degree along with an award for excellence in preaching from the divinity school at Yale University.
The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education certified Mr. Mebane as a candidate in its supervisor-in-training program. He interned at Christ Episcopal Church in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he began as seminarian and was ordained to holy orders in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut.
He was curate and then canon of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, Ohio, before becoming interim dean of St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Buffalo, New York.
“An eclectic business career preceded Will’s enrollment in seminary,” the statement said. “He managed 50th Anniversary celebrations commemorating the entry of Jackie Robinson into Major League Baseball; produced media for a Special Olympics World Games; and helped promote an Elton John World Tour.”
He is a founding board member and former vice president of the nonprofit that built the Freedom Schooner Amistad.
Also, VOICE-Buffalo, a group of faith, labor, business and community leaders working against injustices in their community, recently awarded Mr. Mebane its Faith in Action award in recognition of his activism since joining St. Paul’s Cathedral.
“Will is intimately involved with community and civic organizations addressing issues of social justice and equality,” the statement said. “The Coalition for Economic Justice presented him the 2016 Joan Malone award for his efforts in the Fight for $15 minimum wage campaign.”
Mr. Mebane served as vice president of VOICE-Buffalo, with the Concerned Clergy Coalition of Western New York and the Network of Religious Communities, which presented him an Award of Appreciation in 2018 for his advocacy work. He is a member of the Say Yes to Education Buffalo Religious Leaders Task Force and actively involved with various initiatives of the Episcopal Diocese of Western New York.
In addition, he recently presented “Preaching the Gospel Without Preaching Politics” as a faculty member of the Preaching Excellence Program of the Episcopal Preaching Foundation.
“I have yet to meet a cause for justice in which I do not feel compelled to be involved as a Christian,” Mr. Mebane said in the statement.
He currently is vice chairman of the national executive council for the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and on the national leadership team of its Palestine/Israel Network.
His other churchwide involvement includes membership on the economic justice loan committee and the Congo Network. He served on the church’s task force on the study of marriage that led to the adoption of resolutions to ensure marriage equality for Episcopalians.
“Will has also been active in the formation of next generation church leadership having served on the board of trustees for Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University from which he received his diploma in Anglican Studies,” the statement said. “He has been Episcopal Chaplain of the Week at Chautauqua Institution.”
The new rector received his undergraduate degree in radio, television, and motion pictures from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has held positions with broadcast outlets in North Carolina, New York and Connecticut. He also founded and operated a management, media and marketing consulting firm.
“He has volunteered with nonprofit organizations addressing HIV/AIDS, affordable housing, refugee resettlement, education of urban youth and more,” the statement said. “He was elected to and chaired a local board of education in Connecticut and is a former high school and college football referee and basketball official.”
Mr. Mebane and his spouse, Ilona Paulette, are parents to two adult children and come to Falmouth from Buffalo, New York.